Bottle carrier



Jan. 17, 1956 E. T. wAHLBoM 2,731,169

BOTTLE CARRIER y Filed May 26, 1953 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mom PYLE Qyrk /37 MIU# /LwwndwJ-fa TTORADEW Jan. 17, 1956 5.1'. wAHLBoM BOTTLE CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1953 United States Patent O BOTTLE CARRIER Ernest T. Wahlbom, Rockford, Ill., assigner of one-half to Osborn E. Griggs, East Hartford, Conn.

Application May 26, 1953, Serial No. 357,554

3 Claims. (Cl. 220-1G4) This invention relates to bottle carriers of the type made from a flat piece of sheet metal which is folded to form bottom, side and top walls. The top walls are inclined toward a central peak and are formed with bottle-receiving holes which, due to the incline of the top walls, are made elliptical. The top walls are strengthened by elliptical flanges extending around the holes and projecting downwardly from the top walls.

One object of the invention is to simplify the manufacture of the carrier without weakening the construction thereof by employing improved means for forming the bottle-receiving holes and the supporting structure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a bottle carrier embodying the novel features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view of the carrier.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top view of the sheet from which the body of the carrier is made and illustrates the manner in which the holes are formed.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the punch for forming the holes and the supporting structure.

For purposes of illustration, the invention is shown embodied in a beverage bottle carrier such as the one disclosed in my U. S. Patent No. 2,615,605 to which reference rnay be had for details of construction. Carriers of this type are designed to be loaded automatically by machines which lower the bottles (Fig. 3) endwise into the carrier through evenly spaced holes 11 in the carrier top. In general, the carrier is made of light gage sheet metal, which may be aluminum, and includes a generally flat rectangular bottom wall or base 12 and spaced sides 13 rigid with and upstanding from the margins of the base. Flat rectangular top walls 14 project upwardly and inwardly from the upper edges of the side walls and converge in a central peak.

The holes 11 are formed in the top walls 14 and, in this case, three holes are formed in each wall so that the carrier holds the bottles in two rows with three bottles in each. Since the top walls are inclined, the holes are elliptical with their major axes extending transversely of the walls and in the direction of the incline so that the projections of the holes on a horizontal plane are generally circular to conform to the cross sectional shape of the bottles. Depending from the top walls around the holes are elliptical llanges 15 which give the walls the required rigidity.

Upstanding from the base 12 intermediate the edges thereof is a rectangular partition 16 which is parallel to the side walls 13 and projects between vertical flanges 17 along the upper edges of the top walls 14. The partition is secured to the base in any suitable manner, as by folding a part 18 (Fig. 3) over a right angular flange 19 on the bottom of the partition, while the upper end of the "ice latter may be held in place by folding over marginal portions of the top wall ilanges 17 and by making indenta tions 20. To provide the carrier with an adjustable handle, an inverted U-shaped bail 21 is disposed with its legs 22 projecting in between the ilanges 17 and sliding in guides 23 formed on the partition 16.

Usually, the body of the carrier, that is, the base 12, the sides 13 and the top walls 14, is made from a single sheet metal piece 24 (Figs. 4 and 5) which is cut to the proper size and is folded into the desired shape. Before the piece 24 is folded, elliptical holes 25 (Fig. 4) somewhat smaller than the holes 11 are punched in the portions which eventually become the top walls. The holes 25 have the same centers and are elongated in the same direction as the holes 11. The piece then is placed between the male and female dies 26 and 27 (Fig. 5) of a punch which bends the portions around the original holes 25 down to form the flanges 15 and leave the holes 11. Strengthening anges 28 also are bent down from the ends of the top walls. Preferably, bosses 29 are punched up from the base 12 below the holes 11 to engage the recessed bottoms of the bottles and hold the latter against shifting. In addition, drain holes 30 may be punched in the base and an elongated rectangular recess 31 may be punched in each side wall 13 to receive an advertising panel (not shown).

In prior practice, the flanges 15 were made ot substantial. width around the entire peripheries of the holes 11. In order that these ilanges would not interfere with the endwise insertion of the bottles 10, they were made to project straight down, that is, perpendicular to the base 12. As a result, it has been necessary to incline the supporting surface 32 of the female die 27 so as to form the flanges 15 at the desired angle with respect to the top walls. Diculty has been encountered in holding the piece 24 on an incline while punching these flanges. Further, two punching operations were required, one for the holes in each of the top walls 14, since the ilanges around one set of holes extend in a diiferent direction relative to the unfolded sheet Z4 than do the llanges around the other set.

To simplify the manufacture of the carrier and reduce the over-all cost, the present invention contemplates forming the holes 11 and the supporting structure in a novel manner so that the carrier may be made in fewer and easier steps. The simplified construction is based on the discovery that the side portions 33 of the anges 15 provide the requisite rigidity of the top walls 14 while the portions 34 (Fig. 3) along the lower edges of the holes are not important for this purpose due to the strengthening eifect of the side walls 13. Accordingly, the end portions of the flanges may be made Very narrow without weakening the top walls. I have found that, with this construction of the flanges, the latter may be perpendicular to the top walls without interfering with the endwise insertion of the bottles 10 into the holes 11.

In the present instance, the width of each flange 15 across the widest part of the side portion 33, that is, at the ends of the minor axis of the hole 11, is on the order of 5% of an inch. From the side portion, the ilange tapers gradually toward the lower end portion 34 whose width is only a small fraction of the width of the side portion. The end portion may, as illustrated, be about one-fourth as wide as the side portion or 9/32 of an inch. With this construction, the side portions 33 cooperate with each other and with the end flanges 28 to form ribs 35 of channel cross section which strengthen the top walls transversely. Since the ilanges 17 on the upper edges of the top walls 14 provide the necessary rigidity in the direction lengthwise of the carrier, the flanges 15 may stop short of the upper ends of the holes 11. It is preferred, however, to extend the ilanges completely around the holes with the upper end portion 36 of each flange quite narrow as shown.

With each flange formed as described above and projecting perpendicularly from the associated top wall 14, the upper half of the flange is disposed under the top wall and does not extend in under the hole 11. While the lower half of the liange projects slightly forward of the lower edge of the hole, it extends only a short distance in as seen in Fig. 2 due to the narrowing of the lower end portion 34. As a result, the horizontal distance between the outer edge of the lower flange portion 34 and the upper end of the hole 11, the distance a in Fig. 2, is approximately equal to the width b of the hole so that the projection on the base l2 of the actual bottle receiving opening is substantially circular and conforms to the cross sectional shape of the bottles 10.

With the foregoing arrangement, the original holes are rst punched in the sheet metal piece 24. As seen in Fig. 4, these holes are more elongated than the holes 11, that is, they are substantially narrower but only slightly shorter than the final holes. Because of this difference in elongation of the holes 25 and 11, the punch 26, 27 in forming the latter hole bends down wide por tions 33 of the sheet 24 along the sides of the hole and narrow portions 34 and 36 at the ends thus giving the flange 15 the desired shape.

Itwill be observed that the punching of the flanges 15 is a comparatively simple operation. Since the flanges are perpendicular to the top walls 14, the sheet metal piece 24 from which the carrier body is formed is held at right angles to the male die 26 of the punch and may rest horizontally on the female die 27 rather than being inclined as has been the practice heretofore. With the llanges perpendicular to the top walls, the flanges around all the holes are perpendicular to the piece 24 and all the flanges may be punched at the same time. In fact, the flanges may be formed at the same time that the end flanges 28, the bosses 29 and the recesses 31 are punched since all are formed by punches which act in the same direction relative to the original sheet metal piece 24. As a result, only one simple punching operation is needed to form these parts where three were required previously. It is apparent, therefore, that the manufacture of the carrier is substantially simpler and less expensive.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bottle carrier comprising a generally flat bottom, flat sides upstanding from opposite margins of said bottom, at top walls converging upwardly from said sides to a central peak and each having a row of elliptical holes punched therefrom to receive a plurality of bottles, the major diameters of said holes extending transversely of said top walls and in the direction of inoline thereof, and elliptical flanges formed around each of said holes and projecting inwardly from and at right angles to the associated top wall, the width of the flanges along the lower edges of said holes being substantially smaller than the width of the flanges along the sides of the holes and the horizontal distance from the lowermost point on each llange to the uppermost point on the associated hole being substantially equal to the minor diameter of the hole whereby the projection on the base of the opening formed by the hole and the flange is generally circular.

2. In a carrier having a body for receiving bottles, the combination of, llat top walls converging upwardly from the sides of the body to a central peak and each having a row of elliptical holes punched therefrom through which holes the bottles are inserted endwise, said holes being elongated transversely of said top walls and in the direction of incline thereof, and elliptical flanges formed around each of said holes and projecting inwardly from and at right angles to the associated top wall, each flange being of substantial width at the sides of the hole intermediate the ends thereof and tapering gradually toward the lower end of the hole to a width only a small fraction of the width of the sides of the liange.

3. A bottle carrier comprising a generally flat bottom, llat sides upstanding from opposite margins cf said bottom, fiat top walls converging upwardly from said sides to a central peak and each having a row of elliptical holes punched therefrom to receive a plurality of bottles, the major diameters of said holes extending transversely of said top walls and in the direction of the incline thereof, and elliptical flanges projecting inwardly from each of said top walls along the edges of said holes, all parts of each flange being disposed at right angles to the associated top wall and the width of the flanges along the lower edges of said holes being a small fraction of the width of the flanges along the sides of the holes.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 368,611 Pratt Aug. 23, 1887 2,332,001 Nemetz Oct. 19, 1943 2,511,836 Cullen June 20, 1950 2,522,950 Keith Sept. 19, 1950 2,522,978 Acton Sept. 19, 1950 2,530,849 Wyatt et al Nov. 21, 1950 

